How long can you keep a casserole with cooked meat out of the refrigerator?
Food Safety
Reply posted by Sally (24.91.19.240)
Better to be safe than sorry. Chill the caserole and reheat. Hot food is kept above 60 degrees and cold food below 40 degrees. There are many factors to be considered with how safe a dish is left out on the counter until serving. An hour after heating to serving temperature is usually not a problem.Most restruants are very careful in observing food safty and do not allow prepared foods to hang out on a counter.It is good to know there are risks to room temperature cooked casseroles with protein content.The real culprit in mayonaised dishes like tuna sandwiches, it is the protein that bacteria have a ball with. There is lots of great information about food safety on the internet and in some cookbooks.
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